Identification of biodiversity and distribution pattern of benthic Foraminifera and Ostracoda in continental shelf sediments of the Oman Sea

Biodiversity and distribution of benthic Foraminifera and Ostracoda in thecontinental shelf sediments of the Omman Sea was studied in order to indicating ofthe composition of benthic foraminiferal and ostracodal communities anddetermining of their relationship with the environmental factors of the Omman Sea.Sediment samples were gathered in winter 2006 from twelve stations ranging indepth from 30 to 103 meters. Environmental factors including depth, temperature,salinity, dissolved Oxygen and pH were measured with a CTD system duringsampling time and grain size and total organic matter were measured in laboratory.From the overall 57 benthic foram species, there were 52 identified species belongto 25 genera of 16 families. The cosmopolitan foraminifer, Ammonia beccarii, wascommon in all sampling stations. The composition of benthic foram communitieshad a highly positive correlation with depth, salinity and total organic matter. Fromthe overall 30 ostracod species, there were 26 identified species belong to 22genera of 13 families. Diversity and aboundance of ostracoda of the Oman Seadecreased from east to west and from south to north but increased slightly in thenorthwest (near the Strait of Hormoz). Ostracoda of the genus Propontocypris werecommon in all sampling stations but the genera Cyprideis, Paradoxostom andHemicytheridea were rare in the Oman Sea. Diversity and aboundance of ostracodain northern regions were less than southern and were less than foraminifera too.The composition of ostracodal communities had a highly positive correlation withdept, salinity and grain size. Biodiversity and distribution pattern of benthicforaminifera and ostracoda were being different in various sampling stations,especially between northern and southern regions. Water depth, salinity andstructure of the sediments were the most important abiotic factors controlling thedistribution pattern of benthic foraminifera and ostracoda in the Omman Sea. Noneexistence or rare observation of structural abnormalities and oil polluted individualsin the vicinity of all sampling stations, resulted to the "clean" benthic environmentof the Omman Sea.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Moghaddasi, Babak
Format:	thesis biblioteca
Language:	Persian
Published:	Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Marine Biology 2008
Subjects:	Biology, Ecology, Fisheries,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/1834/34442
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